Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1887-05-18
LONDON BUSINESS WAYS.
Humorously Conservative Methods That
Make Live Americans Weary

HumOrously Conservative Methods That
Make Live Americans Weary
To the American the methods of
conducting business in London seem
slow and Anticipated. There is an evil
dent desire on the part of many large
firms to make the transaction of bust
ness difficult instead of easy. There is
an outer inquiry office, at which you
must give your name to clerk, who
often intimates by his looks that he is
comforting favor by taking it; the
name is passed ON to an inner office,
and you are probably told to take
seat III the reception room, until the
principals are at liberty to see you. All
this contrasts strongly with the accessi-
bility of business men in America.
The greatest caution is exercised in
the opening of new accounts. Before
you can buy goods you must first either
be introduced by an old customer or
establish your responsibility or sol
vency. If you step into large bank
in London, and put your money on the
counter and ask to buy draft on New
York, Berlin or Paris, you will be told
that they do not know you and can
only sell drafts to their regular Gus
toners or to people introduced by
them. There is no question that the
money you offer is not good, but they
do not know you. [ was once, years
ago, refused a draft in a bank in which
/ had special deposit of money at in
terest, and, notwithstanding | brought
the clerk from the special deposit de-
partment of the bank to vouch for my
identity, the draft clerk told me: "Ah,
yes! you have special deposit in that
department, but special deposits are re-
ceived from any one without introduce
ton; and really, since you have never
been introduced to the bank, you are
still in the position of stranger to us,
and we can not sell you the draft
Another banking custom that seems
strange to us is that open checks (not
''crossed'') are paid to strangers with
out Identification. If you have check
payable to ''John JONES' or order, the
bank does not require that you be
identified as John Jones, but you pre-
sent the check, indorse your name
John Jones on the back, and receive
the money in bills or gold. But most
checks are crossed and not "open
checks" and you can not get the pay
ment of a crossed" check by present
ing it personally at the bank, no mat
ter how much you may be identified.
To coli oh
parallel lines across the face of it, and
write between them either the name of
the bank with whom the person to
whom the check is payable intends to
deposit it, or simply the terminal
words''& Co. - any check so crossed
ton, and presented by bank mes
senger for payment. The crossing of
checks thus forms an almost absolute
safeguard against payment to the
wrong persons. 1t might be adopted
with advantage in other countries.
Some of the London banks have de-
posits of 800, 600, 600 and $3.50, 900, 900,
but this is the total of deposits of the
main bank in the ''City of London"
of its dozen or more of branches in
larger London, and its thirty or for
ty country branches, so that to COM
pare the deposits of the largest London
banks with those of the largest New
York banks would hardly be fair, I'M
less you added to the deposits of the
New York banks the deposits of all
their correspondent banks. = London
Cor, Chicago Inter Ocean.